Mapping Student Days: Collaborative Ethnography and the Student Experience

Authors

Andrew Asher, Indiana University - BloomingtonFollow
Jean Amaral, CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community CollegeFollow
Juliann Couture, University of Colorado BoulderFollow
Barbara Fister, Gustavus Adolphus CollegeFollow
Donna Lanclos, University of North Carolina CharlotteFollow
M. Sara Lowe, Indiana University-Purdue University IndianapolisFollow
Mariana Regalado, CUNY Brooklyn CollegeFollow
Maura A. Smale, CUNY New York City College of TechnologyFollow

Abstract

Research on students’ educational experiences demonstrates the importance of a holistic understanding of the complexity of students’ lives to developing library programs, services, and resources that effectively address undergraduate needs. The “A Day in the Life” (ADITL) project investigated a typical day for over 200 students at eight diverse institutions in the US. Examining the local and individual expressions of student taskscapes – the ensemble of interrelated social activities across time and space – placed each student’s relationship to their library in a larger description of their academic and personal lives. By exploring the whole student experience, this multi-site ethnographic study mapped out a more complete, complex, and diverse cartography of college students’ lives and the library’s place in it.

Recommended Citation

Asher, Andrew; Amaral, Jean; Couture, Juliann; Fister, Barbara; Lanclos, Donna; Lowe, M. Sara; Regalado, Mariana; and Smale, Maura A. (2017) "Mapping Student Days: Collaborative Ethnography and the Student Experience," Collaborative Librarianship: Vol. 9: Iss. 4, Article 7.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/collaborativelibrarianship/vol9/iss4/7